Rail spike



Nov. 25, 1941. 2 B; KWKUCK 2,263,734

RAIL SPIKE Filed April 16, 1938 Ber/hold Kuc/ruck INVENTOR 4 g 10 BY W ATTORNEYY,

Patented Nov. 25, 1941 RAIL SPIKE Berthold Kuckuck, New York, N. Y., minor to Elastic Bail Spike Corporation, New York, N. Y., a corporation of Delaware Application April 16, 1938, Serial No. 202,433

6 Claims.

My invention relates to improvements in the construction of rail spikes and more particularly to a multi-strand spike having a resilient head Portion adapted toyieldably engage the flange of a rail to the latter in position upon the tie plate and tie.

Resilient rail spikes are known in railway construction and comprise ordinarily contiguous strands of steel having a straight shank portion to be driven into the tie and 'a curved arm at its upper end forming a resilient head adapted to be yieldably engaged with the rail flange when the shank portion has been driven into the tie. The purpose of the resilient head is to permit a certain vertical downward movement of the rail on the passing thereover of the wheeled truck of the rolling stock and to prevent the spike from being withdrawn from the tie when the rail, relieved of the weight of the truck, rises to assume its normal position.

From the foregoing it will be understood that the effective operation of a resilient rail spike of this character depends almost entirely upon the high degree of resiliency which can be centered in the head portion. It is therefore the object of the present invention, to construct a rail spike having its head portion so devised as to exert a maximum of spring resistance when engaged with the rail flange to hold the same on the tie plate and upon the supporting tie.

I accomplish the object of this invention by means of the construction set forth in detail in the following description, defined in the appended claims, and illustratively exemplified in the accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of a form of spike according to this invention; and

Figure 2 is a substantially transverse sectional View of a rail, spike, tie plate and tie.

Referring to the drawing, the spike comprises a shank ill, a spirally turned loop head II and a gripping arm 12.

The spike consists preferably of at least two flat strands of spring material disposed substantially side by side with their wider faces facing each other. The loop head II is formed by turning the strands spirally about an axis substantially parallel to said wider faces. The

free ends of the strands project at substantially right angles to the shank and beyond the same to grip the flange of the rail.

In the embodiment illustrated, the two strands are in constant contact, i. e. they are contiguous throughout their length and their free ends project beyond the shank at one side thereof.

The use of a resilient rail spike according to the present invention is illustrated, by way of example, in Figure 2. The arrangement shown has the advantage over prior constructions in that the major resilient portion of the head is disposed on the side of the shank opposite to that occupied by the gripping arm, whereby the shank may be inserted in the tie adjacent the rail flange and lowered with the tip of the gripping arm free to pass the rail h'ead.

What I claim is:

1. A resilient rail spike, comprising a shank composed of a plurality of contiguous flat strands of spring material, and a loop-shaped head including a flat strand of spring material integral with one of the strands forming said shank and having a first portion curved away from said shank in one direction about an axis substantially at right angles to said shank, a second downwardly curved portion, and a third portion extending in a direction substantially opposite to that of said first portion, the lower surface of said third portion being adapted to overlie and press down upon a rail flange so that upward movement of the rail will compress the loop and reduce its diameter.

2. A resilient rail spike comprising a shank formed of contiguous flat strands of spring material, 'the upper portion of each of said strands being looped about an axis parallel to its wider face and at right angles to the shank so as to curve each of said strands away from the shank and th'en downward into a spiral having its free end projecting at substantially right angles to and beyond the shank.

3. A resilient rail spike comprising a shank formed of contiguous flat strands of spring material, the upper parts of said strands being looped about an axis parallel to the wider faces of said strands and at right angles to the shank to curve said strands away from the shank and then downwardly into contiguous spirals having their free ends projecting at substantially right angles to and beyond the shank on one side thereof.

4. A resilient rail spike comprising a shank formed of contiguous flat strands of spring material, the upper portion of at least one of saidstrands being looped about an axis parallel to its wider face and at right angles to the shank to curve said strand away from the shank and then downward into a spiral having its free end projecting at substantially right angles to and beyond the shank.

5. A resilient rail spike including a shank portion having upwardly extending metal strips, said strips being relatively wide as compared to their thickness and being disposed substantially side by side with their adjacent wider faces facing each other, the upper portion of at least one 01' said strips being of looped shape about an axis substantially parallel to said wider faces, to provide a curved portion extending away from the shank and then spirally downward, said spike having a resilient arm projecting crosswise oi the shank Irom said last mentioned curved portion, said resilient arm b'eing constructed and arranged to overlie and press down upon a rail flange.

6. A rail spike comprising a shank composed of a pair of contiguous piles of material, connected at their lower ends, each of said plies, at

the upper end of the shank, being first bent upon itself to provide a resilient loop, and being then extended from said loop across said shank to form a rail flange overlying and holding arm resiliently connected with the upper end of the shank by the loops.

BER'I'HOLD KUCKUCK. 

